Stamp duty claims against Revenue mount up
Home-owners in deprived areas free of stamp duty on property transactions, who have been wrongly told they have to pay the charge, are reclaiming up to £500,000 a month in overcharged duty.
Link: Stamp duty reform work canned
Economic secretary John Heald admitted this in the Commons. He told MPs it was the taxpayer’s duty to claim the stamp duty relief for properties under £159,000 in areas designated according to council wards.
The Inland Revenue’s website postcode search facility was merely a tool designed to help them, he said.
The Revenue was aware ‘of some problems’ particularly where properties straddled ward boundaries or were on new developments and were refunding stamp duty with interest at the rate of around 300 claims a month, he said.